


Five SGA Ficlets and How They Grew Up

by Rachael Sabotini (wickedwords)



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Daily life on Atlantis, Drabble Collection, Gen, M/M, Off-World, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-05-01
Updated: 2007-05-01
Packaged: 2018-03-20 12:24:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3650229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wickedwords/pseuds/Rachael%20Sabotini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five short ficlets about life in Atlantis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five SGA Ficlets and How They Grew Up

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to elynross for doing the beta.

1) Assets and Liabilities - For **kormantic**  
  
  
"Don't you think these pants are rather tight?" Rodney gestured down at the slick blue material covering his legs. "It's worse than spandex." He pulled at the shirt, and twisted sideways to catch a look at himself in the mirror. "At least I have the calves for it now. What with all that running for our lives thing we've been doing lately."  
  
John had to admit, Rodney had a point: his calves did look pretty good. "That's high fashion on Selan," John said casually, leaning back against the headboard. "Weird little shirts with form-fitting pants."  
  
"At least I'm not the only one that has to wear them." Rodney glanced over at John. "How did you manage to get yours in all black?"  
  
"It's a gift." John rolled off the bed and picked up the final piece of the outfit. "And they gave us suede dusters to go over the whole thing."  
  
"I feel like I'm in a hair band," Rodney growled, pulling on his coat. "And why do I get the purple one?"  
  
"Because this one is black."  
  
"Of course." Rodney rolled his eyes. "You had a thing for David Bowie, didn't you?"  
  
"Maybe."  
  
"Ha!" Rodney snapped his fingers and pointed. "Okay, let's get this trading ceremony over with. I cannot wait to see what Ronon looks like in this getup." He pursed his lips, looking in the mirror again. "Seriously, how do I look?"  
  
John walked around Rodney, pulling the coat aside to check out his ass before letting it fall back into place. Then he leaned over to kiss Rodney's ear and give him a squeeze. "Fucking perfect."  
  


* * *

2) The Hunt for Pink April -- For **sandyurbahns**  
  
The Athosian children had never seen Easter eggs, and that just didn't sit right with John. Unfortunately, Atlantis didn't have any real eggs, and colored scrambled stuff would be too messy to hide. He eventually got two dozen pip-pip eggs from MX7-439, which were about the size of duck eggs and light blue in color, and called it good enough.  
  
"You are not going to hide them raw, are you?" Teyla asked carefully, as she looked at the boxes of eggs. "It will be at least a week before the children will be able to gather for this hunt of yours, and I fear that they will be quite..." she wrinkled her nose, "aromatic if they are hidden all that time."  
  
"Not to mention that other animals will eat them." Ronon plucked one of the eggs from the basket. "A shame to waste them."  
  
Rodney nodded as he poked through the eggs.  
  
"Those are for the kids," John said, plucking the egg out of Ronon's hand. "We'll boil them first, color them, and then take them out to the mainland to hide next week. Anyone got a problem with that?"  
  
Rodney held up the largest egg out of the whole set. "This one is mine, right?"  
  
Ronon grinned and Teyla smirked while John dropped his head and sighed.  
  


* * *

3) Crossing the Badlands - For **sundara**  
  
  
"Give her a try now." Rodney slammed the hood of the convertible closed and stepped back while John turned the ignition. With a click and a sputter, the engine caught at last, and John let out a whoop.  
  
"Get in!" He yelled at Rodney, who was tossing his equipment into the back seat.  
  
"Just a second," Rodney said, stuffing the last of it into the back and sliding into the passenger seat with a heart-felt sigh. John noticed two things: somehow, he'd picked up grease on his wind-reddened cheeks, and it looked really good on him.  
  
Heading back onto the road, John stabbed the button to put the roof up. "It's not supposed to snow in June," he said as the convertible's retractable roof took its own sweet time sliding into place.  
  
"No," Rodney agreed, and blew on his hands. "It's not."  
  
John tried not to think about how cold he was. "You want me to pull off at the next motel?"  
  
Rodney squinted out the window, which showed nothing but a large rocky expanse with a strip of asphalt running through it. "Provided that you're willing to protect me from serial killers, yes."  
  
"Not a problem." John said, and pressed on the gas, edging up the speed. "We can even share the same bed."  
  


* * *

4) No One Made Them Do It - For **monanotlisa**  
  
  
Their first kiss wasn't the product of stress or adrenaline. It wasn't mistaken identity or a drunken sprawl, or the product of the cold, clinical detachment of an alien observer or a manipulative captor forcing them to 'fuck or die.'.  
  
Instead, Rodney sat at the edge of the campfire, John at his side, in the middle of a field of yellow wild flowers, the pounding rhythm of drums a faint counterpoint to the warm night. Stars appeared here and there, dotting the navy blue sky with little white sparks as the sun faded away.  
  
Technically, they were guarding the jumper, but they really had no other place to be at the moment. Ronon and Teyla were down at the village, celebrating the Athosian new year on their new home world. Rodney kind of missed having them nearby.  
  
"Hey," John said, and Rodney looked over at him. Between one second and the next, as their gaze caught and held, something shifted and changed between them; it seemed natural for Rodney to slide his hand over John's rough cheek, and for John to brush his lips against Rodney's.  
  
They sat for a moment, forehead-to-forehead, Athosian style, their breath mingling. Finally, John pulled away. "Jumper?" he said hopefully, licking his lips as he stared at Rodney's.  
  
Rodney smiled his agreement. "Much better than the ground."  


* * *

5) All Roads Lead Somewhere - For **geeklite**  
  
  
"Oh, dear," The chancellor said, wringing his hands. "Your ship was transported to the archives, in our capital city, so that it could be examined in more detail. I am afraid it is no longer here."  
  
John rubbed his hand over his face. This was just perfect. The perfect end to a perfect week. They had escaped the mining camp just fine, but the planet had an orbital gate, so there was no way that they were getting out of here without a jumper. "Can you let them know we're back and want our ship?"  
  
"Oh, yes! In fact, I will send a Ha'lath to the head archivist, and let them know you are here." He scurried over to a long table and pulled out a thin metal cylinder and pad of what looked like wax. "The council decreed that she examine it personally." He folded up a tiny slip of paper and pushed it into a very small tube--the kind that could be attached to a carrier pigeon. "She should have the message by dawn tomorrow."  
  
"Dawn?" Rodney said, irritation in every syllable and line of his body. "How far is this place?  
  
"It is a three day journey by ranthor cart," the chancellor said sympathetically. "The mountains must be crossed, and the path is very rough. Sometimes bandits lie in wait."  
  
"Don't you have an easier way to reach them? Radio, or even telegraph wires--"  
  
"Signal flares," John said.  
  
"Something a little more...instantaneous."  
  
"No, we have nothing like that, save for the call of the ancestors, which is only used in an emergency. On your planet, this instantaneous communication is more common?" The chancellor tilted his head slightly. "That sounds very intriguing."  
  
"Well, you know. You help us get back to our home, and hey, maybe we can send someone to help you with that."  
  
Teyla stepped in front of Rodney. "Rather than merely sending a message, it would be better if we traveled to your capital ourselves." Teyla glanced at John, Rodney, and Ronon. "Dr. Weir will need to know we are unharmed, and we can examine the jumper for ourselves."  
  
"Oh. Oh, yes. Yes, that's an excellent idea." The chancellor picked up a second bell and rang it. "I will ask the commander to provision you, and deploy a company of guards to escort you there."  
  
"That's awesome," John said, and smiled.  
  
The councilor nodded enthusiastically. "I do wish I could be there when you arrive." He rang both bells again, then stomped off to the hallway, calling for Trel.  
  
"You know what this means, don't you?" Rodney said, stretching his back. "Days in a rough-hewn cart, hauled over a mountain pass. My back is already killing me."  
  
Ronon clapped his hand on Rodney's shoulder. "It's a road trip."  
  
Rodney ducked under Ronon's arm to glare at John. "You showed him Animal House, didn't you?"  
  
"Hey, he's the one that wanted to learn about the cultural significance of crushing beer cans."  
  
Teyla sighed heavily. "This will be a long three days." 


End file.
